Summer school

'Aida'

Brian Krista, Patuxent Publishing

Students participating in the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' summer camp rehearse a scene from the musical "Aida" at Resivoir High School in Fulton. A total of five performances of "Aida", with music written by Elton John, will be held from July 28-31.

Students participating in the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' summer camp rehearse a scene from the musical "Aida" at Resivoir High School in Fulton. A total of five performances of "Aida", with music written by Elton John, will be held from July 28-31. (Brian Krista, Patuxent Publishing)

Anthony Scalfani

Say you're a teenager. It's June and summer is ready to roll around. You have a few choices. You can get a summer job, spend your summer sleeping in late and hanging at the pool, or go right back into a school building and learn more.

Few would probably choose the last example. But spending the summer inside a school building is exactly what kids from the around the region are doing as part of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' annual Teen Professional Theatre.

And from the popularity of the program, it seems most kids couldn't imagine a better way to spend their summers.

Take Adam Vaughn. The 16-year-old rising junior at Oakland Mills High School has been acting since he nabbed a role in the chorus of a third-grade play. After a stint at the Elkridge-based Schoolhouse Theatre Arts program, he discovered the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts through his drama teacher, Steve Fleming, who works at the center each summer.

After hearing about the program, Vaughn elected to stay away from the pool for a while and broaden his acting skills from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

"It's been a great experience," says the Columbia resident. "You get to meet a lot of professional people and a lot of really talented directors."

Yeah, but isn't it difficult to be inside a building sweating over how to play a part while other kids are running wild?

"Well, it's a lot to prepare for every day," Vaughn admits. "I sort of think of it as a school day almost. Most people would think 'Wow, that's a lot of work.'"

But, he says, if theater is what you want to do with your life, this is the place to be.

"We do monologues and 16-bar song (snippets) in order to prepare for auditions for colleges and theater productions," says Vaughn, who is part of the large ensemble cast. "If you're planning to go into theater as your career, it's a good way to get you prepared for what's out there in the real world."

Ah yes, the real world. Steven Fleming knows it well, having gone off to college, acted professionally and taught theater.

And the 29-year-old believes Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' 9-year-old teen program has grown into something special over the years.

"When this program started it was very much 'Let's do a show!" Fleming says. "But we always thought there was something else that needed to be there. And when we figured out it was putting in classes, I think that's what started to separate us from other theatrical program."

The students, Fleming says, take classes in everything from tap dancing to resume-writing and how to audition.

"They also go through a series of workshops and classes where they get to work with experts in various fields and prepare themselves on a level that is more than they can get in high school," he adds.

According to the center's executive director, Melissa Woodring Rosenberg, the troupe's focus is to offer talented area kids rigorous education in the dramatic arts.

"It's an audition-based program for advanced musical theater students," Rosenberg explains. "The idea is that you're bringing together all these kids who have probably been leads at their own high schools and you're putting them in a professional setting."

The play's the thing

Last year, the program gathered together some 56 kids to stage a spirited rendition of the musical "Ragtime." The year before, 44 kids brought "Les Miserable" to life.

This year a bumper crop of young actors — 62 in all — have been convening every weekday at Reservoir High School in Fulton to try their collective hands at a revival of the Elton John-Tim Rice Broadway musical "Aida."

It's not an easy show for adults to perform, much less teens. "Aida" made its debut in 2000 and won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical Score and Best Performance by a Leading Actress.

The two-act musical has lofty origins: it's based on the Giuseppe Verdi opera of the same name and tells a similar story about forbidden love in a land long ago and far away.

The play starts in a modern museum, where a man and a woman checking out an Egyptian exhibit begin to, well, check out each other. All of a sudden, the pair is transported back in time to ancientEgypt.

There, an Egyptian army captain, Radames, is returning with his crew from the land of Nubia when they capture a group of women from that country. Radames finds himself taken by one of the women, Aida, and despite having a fiancé, becomes closer and closer to her.

Fleming, who is co-directing the musical with Kevin McAllister, says that despite the play's adult tone, he and McAllister found its theme suitable for today's teens.

"Kevin and I both sat down and looked at the script," Fleming explains. "And one of the things that we saw was that the piece is written with this idea that love kind of transcends time. I think in doing that it brings history to life for the kids."

According to Fleming, the play isn't a historical piece, yet it "certainly makes it ring true that people were human back then as well.

The lead role of Aida will be shared by Ada Satterfield, 17, who attends Wilde Lake High School, and Taylor Washington, 18, who is a student at the Berklee College of Music.

Sharing the leading made role of Radames is Jordan Andre, a 17-year-old Glenelg High School student, and Matt Ranaudo, 17, who attends Centennial High.

The role of Amneris, Radames' princess fiancé, will be shared by Erica Clare, 18, of Catholic University, and Maggie Dransfield, 16, who is home-schooled.

Other leading players include Michael Nugent, 18, and Colin Parker, 20, who share the role of the Pharaoh, and Sam Kobren and Eric Meehan, both 16, who split the role of Zoser, who is the father of Radames.

The role of the Nubian slave Nehebka will be shared by three actresses: 14-year-old Montria Walker, 18-year-old Glynn Davis and 18-year-old Brianna Freeman.

17-year-old Benjamin Vaughn plays the servant Mereb.

As for Adam Vaughn, he's not only spending his days inside a classroom, like all the other actors, he's spending his summer evenings doing homework.

"There's a lot of stuff you have to prepare on your own," he says. "Of course, the directors will help you, but you have to do the homework."

The Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts' Teen Professional Theatre will present "Aida" Thursday-Saturday, July 28-30 at 7 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, July 30-31, at 2 p.m., in the Reservoir High School auditorium, at 11550 Scaggsville Road in Fulton. Tickets run $10-$30 and are available at the door. Call 410-381-0700 or go to: http://www.CCTArts.com.